Tag: mind

Life can be so hectic and sometimes the only time we allow ourselves to chill at home not doing much other than eating and spending time with family is at Christmas time. We have spoken to endless amounts of people about this prior to writing this post and almost everyone says the same thing- Christmas is the only holiday we spend at home doing nothing and don’t feel guilty for it.

It’s important that we have time to switch off from everyday life and the stresses that can come from it. Take the time to do the things you love but don’t usually prioritise or have time to fit in around your daily routine whether this is baking a cake, going for a run, painting your nails or watching your favourite TV show that you are now 5 seasons behind on.

This shouldn’t be just at Christmas time though, try and schedule a weekend in every now and again where you just spend time doing the things you really want to do. We always talk about how much we LOVE these weekends, we wouldn’t want these kinds of weekends all the time because we wouldn’t appreciate them as much but it is nice when you have been so hectic just to sit at home on a Saturday evening with a glass of wine in hand watching your favourite TV show.

We have set ourselves a challenge to make sure we start to schedule in these weekends, putting our self-care and health as a priority. This is going to be really hard for us because we always love being on the go making the most of our weekends and making them as jam packed as possible, but we know sometimes we end up burning the candle at both ends and it usually results in us becoming poorly which isn’t something we want.

So we urge you to do the same as us, start off with Christmas (if you can and have the time off work). Really allow yourself to switch off from your daily routine, say goodbye to the stressful morning commute, work deadlines and everything anything else that angers you or causes you stress on a daily basis. We can assure you your body and mind will thank you for it and you will feel so much better for it, going back to work in January feeling refreshed with a new optimistic mind that is ready to smash everything that comes your way.

So we are going to help you to start, grab a pen and paper and write down everything you love doing in your spare time that you want to do regularly going forward you can see some of the things that are on our lists below:

Annie
Bake banana loaf- my favourite
Swimming
Catch up on Nashville- best TV show ever
Go for a long walk in the woods
Straightening my hair

Sleeping plays a vital role in your health and well being, ensuring you get enough sleep can help your physical and mental health. Sleep deprivation can result in poor thinking, reacting, learning and working all of which are skills we need to use on a daily basis.

Having a busy schedule can sometimes result in not getting enough good quality sleep. We have started to incorporate the below into our lives to ensure we are getting the best quality sleep we possibly can.

Cut the caffeine- Each person’s tolerance to caffeine is different, but it is a known fact caffeine gets your body geared up for activity and leaves you feeling energised. We tend to stop drinking caffeine after lunch time unless we are really struggling to stay awake. Drinking caffeine too late in the day will more than likely disrupt your night’s sleep. If you are used to drinking caffeine in the evening why not try swapping it for a decaf coffee or a herbal tea.

Put down the Technology- This one can be really tough especially if you are so used to getting into bed and catching up on social media etc. Checking your phone or watching TV is probably part of your night time routine but studies have shown that the light emitted from electoral devices can disturb our sleep. Try and put your phone down 30 minutes before going to sleep and make sure you don’t sleep with your phone too close to you.

Stick to a routine- Try to give yourself a ‘bed time’, we all set alarms to wake up in the morning so why don’t we give ourselves a time to go to bed. Our bodies love routine and sticking to a similar routine each night should help you wind down. We love getting into bed early but we do find it a lot easier in the winter months, we try and get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep a night.

Avoid drinking too much before bed- There is nothing cosier than sitting in front of the fire on a cold autumnal evening, sipping on a hot beverage. Although it may be lush at the time you may not thank yourself when you are woken for the toilet on several occasions. We would suggest having your hot evening drink a little bit earlier to reduce the risk of this happening.

Limit napping- Daytime naps might be tempting (if you have the time) but they can make it harder for you to go to sleep at night. We would suggest limiting your naps to 15 minutes and setting an alarm so you don’t sleep any longer.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty- Winston Churchill

We are constantly striving to see the positive in every situation; this is something that can take years of practice but with a bit of encouragement from each other we are doing a pretty good job. When things go wrong it’s important to recognise that life isn’t always perfect and we are strong believers of ‘everything happens for a reason’. Try to see the positive in a negative situation, it can be tough at times but it will make you feel a lot better after.

Every day we surround ourselves with a variety of different people, all of which will have different characteristics. The majority of these will be a delight to be around, they will love, encourage and support the decisions you make in life. These are the people you can turn to when good things happen like getting a new job or a promotion at work, they will be happy for you, congratulate you and won’t be jealous of your success.

Closing the door on old relationships can be hard, just because you have been friends with someone for years doesn’t mean the relationship is a strong and happy relationship. If you find yourself making excuses about meeting up or not looking forward to seeing someone this is a good indication of an unhappy relationship. If someone makes you feel bad about yourself or doesn’t respect you as an individual you don’t have to continue the relationship.

We often become like those we are closest too, look around at your friends and think are they who you would like to become? Do you respect them? Are you happy around them? If the answer is no to any of the above then take some time to think why, it’s hard to live a positive life if you surround yourself with negative people.

Initially it may be hard to stop negative thoughts, be patient with yourself. Every time you have a negative thought try and think of two positive things in your life. So many of us take things for granted for example having a bed to sleep in every night, having access to clean water or having a body that lets us experience life each day.